Oasis LIVE 12/3-12/10 with stops in San Juan and St Thomas

I thought everyone might appreciate a live report since we’re on one of the first Oasis sailings going back to St Thomas and San Juan.

Info: I’m 37, hubby is 41, this is our first time on Oasis. We’re Georgians who live in Colorado. We’re traveling with another couple in their 50’s who are from Georgia, so they kindly picked us up from the airport and we drove to the port after staying in Orlando last night.

We have a hump balcony on deck 7 after a visit from the upgrade fairy (we went from an inside guarantee to an ocean view balcony ). I’m not sure if that means we’ve cashed in every bit of fairy dust we have ever accumulated or if we should also have played the lottery that day. Our balcony is HUGE compared to the hump balcony we had before on Mariner. It could easily hold several more chairs or lounge chairs.

This ship is so gorgeous. We loved Freedom, and Oasis genuinely doesn’t feel THAT much bigger. There just seems to be a lot more stuff in a similar space.

I’m happy to try to answer questions! I’ll try to figure out posting some photos in a bit after we go to our Mustard Drill (but I really prefer mayo).

A few pictures!

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Nice deep balcony!

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Following. I’m travelling with you. [emoji41]

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Following. I’m travelling with you. [emoji41]

 

 

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[emoji1309] hi Ned!

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Nice deep balcony!

 

 

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It is! Our friends are next door and we were able to open the divider, which is lovely!

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Following

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Nice start! I'm curious about your stop in San Juan, and what kinds of excursions are available.

We watched sail away from our balcony today.

Then we had a surprise announcement - after being at sea for 2 hours, we were returning to PC because of a medical emergency. I think the captain is trying to make up that 4 hours over night, because we are definitely moving fast tonight.

We had dinner at Chops tonight. Soooo delicious that we ended up making reservations again later in the week. The crab cake, goat cheese salad, and the carrot cake made the meal. I had the Brazino fish entree and wasn’t a fan...but after all the sides, I wasn’t even close to still being hungry. When the waiter noticed that I only ate half my fish, he questioned me and after I told him it just wasn’t to my taste, but was fine, he removed the charge for my meal. I wasn’t asking for or expecting that - I was a super happy camper with what I had. Excellent service and we’ve requested him as our waiter when we return.

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Nice start! I'm curious about your stop in San Juan, and what kinds of excursions are available.

It’s such a weird port call. We’re in port from 7am - 2pm, and the excursions were limited and super expensive (other than the Barcardi tour and a walking tour they were all around or above $100 pp). We’ve done the Bacardi tour before, so we’re opting to just get off the boat and walk around Old San Juan a bit. I’d love to get lunch somewhere but I have no idea what is open and good. It’s been hard to find any info.

For St Thomas we have a snorkeling tour planned, so I’m really looking forward to that.

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It’s such a weird port call. We’re in port from 7am - 2pm, and the excursions were limited and super expensive (other than the Barcardi tour and a walking tour they were all around or above $100 pp). We’ve done the Bacardi tour before, so we’re opting to just get off the boat and walk around Old San Juan a bit. I’d love to get lunch somewhere but I have no idea what is open and good. It’s been hard to find any info.

 

For St Thomas we have a snorkeling tour planned, so I’m really looking forward to that.

For Old San Juan restaurants, Barranchina's is good as is Cafe Manolin.

We're on her 1/14.... looking forward to following your review!

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For Old San Juan restaurants, Barranchina's is good as is Cafe Manolin.

Thank you! I’ll take a look to see where those both are!

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We're on her 1/14.... looking forward to following your review!

 

 

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Thanks for following!

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Thank you! I’ll take a look to see where those both are!

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1R528JFegGCReFaS-AqVkpZ-GpOQ&hl=en_US&ll=18.464528%2C-66.11721499999999&z=17

Glad you are posting to share impressions not only of the cruise but the islands.

Wonderful photos.

Keith

Very nice photos!

Looking forward to your report. Will be going to St. Thomas and San Juan on Harmony in 12 days[emoji16]

Thanks.

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Thank you! I’ll take a look to see where those both are!

 

 

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The Barrachina... 104 Calle Fortaleza

Great place with good food, nice ambiance and good pricing. It is also well known for its pina coladas. Supposedly they invented the drink.

Thanks for taking the time to do a live report. The pictures are great, makes scraping ice of the windshield this morning a little more tolerable. ;p

Looking forward to your review - pictures are great!

Glad you all are enjoying the pictures and posts!

Today is a sea day. We went to the Windjammer about 10:00 for breakfast. There was a line to get in, but they were actually seating people before they went through the buffet. It moved quickly, and the food stations themselves were super easy to get to and not overly crowded. The coffee/drink station was the only spot that seemed to bottleneck.

After that, we made reservations for Izumi for tomorrow night, and then headed to the pool. Chairs around the beach pool were slammed, but we quickly found chairs by the main pool. I’ve been baking and trying to do my imitation of a lobster.

We just had lunch at the Solarium Bistro which I really liked. An awesome variety of salad toppings, hummus, plus baked fish, pasta, a beef casserole, etc. Great for a light lunch and a lot smaller and less crazy than the Windjammer.

Tonight is formal night, and we’re planning to eat MTD in the main dining room. More later!

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Enjoying your review. It's always great to get the views and thoughts of the different cruisers. We'll be on the Oasis in February for the second time...

Ray

Hello again!

After an hour nap this afternoon (adjusting to the time change plus a lot of sun and a few tasty beverages = [emoji42]), we got spiffed up and went to the dining room. For those curious about formal night dress codes, I saw everything from tuxes to blue jeans. Most, including us, fell somewhere in between.

We had reservations for MTD and were seated within about 5 minutes. Our waiter had a minimum of personality and two of us sat without any water for a good 30 mins. The food was decent. The escargot was excellent, the French onion soup was good. I had the seafood linguine, which I would pass on in the future. It came with 4 small shrimp, two over cooked and chewy mussels, and a handful of tiny scallops. Sad panda. I was hoping it would be yummy. My hubby had the beef tenderloin and was super happy with it. My creme brûlée was pretty fantastic. Overall, a decent dinner. The dining room is so loud we could barely hear each other...more so than I remember on other ships.

We were scheduled to attend the aqua show, but it was cancelled because of rough seas. I really hope we can go later in the week.

So, here’s my biggest gripe and disappointment with Oasis thus far. The nighttime venues are too small and there’s just not enough going on. We really wanted to go to Dazzles for the band, but it was standing room only. That venue is entirely too small. I really miss the large venue for that kind of entertainment that’s found on the smaller ships. Next we tried the pub, it was also slammed. So I’m currently sitting in the On Air club watching a football game I care nothing about (my friends care, so I’m dealing). I’m just surprised by the limited options! I’ve never been on another ship when I couldn’t get a seat in a venue when I was there early before the show. Too many people with too few options and too small venues.

More later!

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... So, here’s my biggest gripe and disappointment with Oasis thus far. The nighttime venues are too small and there’s just not enough going on. We really wanted to go to Dazzles for the band, but it was standing room only. ...

I've felt the same way, really missed that mid-sized lounge venue (now called Star Lounge on Voyager class) on other ships.